Written Answers Friday 8 August 2008

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what role the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board has played in preserving the conditions of service and minimum pay rates of agricultural workers.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Agricultural Wages Board has taken account of the specific needs of the agricultural workforce, including part-time, seasonal and migrant workers, in determining their pay and conditions of service.

Agriculture

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive why its consultation, Agricultural Wages in Scotland: The Scottish Agricultural Wages Board, was launched, given the role of the board in protecting wages and conditions of service for agricultural workers.

Richard Lochhead: We are committed to delivering more effective government and to continuous improvement of public services. As part of this it is important to regularly review whether individual public organisations continue to be the best way to deliver services for which they are responsible; and how these services might be improved in the future.

  When the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board was last reviewed in 2005, a decision was taken to retain it, but with provision for a further review no later than 2010. In bringing forward this review of the board, we are seeking views on whether it should retain its statutory powers, be replaced by an advisory body or be disbanded altogether, without any replacement body.

Audiology

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times are for hearing aids in each NHS board area, also broken down by parliamentary constituency.

Shona Robison: Information on audiology average waiting times is not available centrally. Audiology waiting times will be included within the 18-week referral to treatment standards by 2011 and systems are being developed to report progress towards that target. Information Services Division of National Services Scotland will publish audiology waiting times from 1 April 2009.

Central Heating Programme

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been on the waiting list for a free central heating system in the DD postcode area in each of the last 12 months for which information is available.

Stewart Maxwell: The number of applicants on the waiting list in the DD postcode area for each of the last 12 months, as notified by the managing agent, is shown in the following table.

  

 Period
 Number of Applicants on Waiting List


 July 2007
 577


 August 2007
 631


 September 2007
 675


 October 2007
 710


 November 2007
 652


 December 2007
 635


 January 2008
 604


 February 2008
 529


 March 2008
 446


 April 2008
 416


 May 2008
 434


 June 2008
 375

Central Heating Programme

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many free central heating installations have taken place in the DD postcode area since 1 April 2008.

Stewart Maxwell: The managing agent has indicated that between 1 April and 30 June 2008, a total of 147 central heating systems were installed in the DD postcode area.

Central Heating Programme

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many free central heating systems were installed in the DD postcode area in the period from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008.

Stewart Maxwell: The managing agent has indicated that between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2008, a total of 892 central heating systems were installed in the DD postcode area.

Central Heating Programme

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new applications have been received for a free central heating system in the DD postcode area in each of the last 12 months for which information is available and how many were considered to be eligible.

Stewart Maxwell: The number of applications received in the DD postcode area during each of the last twelve months, as notified by the Managing Agent, is shown in the following table.

  

 Period
 Applications Received
 Applications Taken Forward (Subject to Survey)


 July 2007
 136
 108


 August 2007
 119
 104


 September 2007
 93
 82


 October 2007
 139
 127


 November 2007
 130
 108


 December 2007
 67
 55


 January 2008
 115
 94


 February 2008
 112
 83


 March 2008
 121
 88


 April 2008
 124
 97


 May 2008
 126
 95


 June 2008
 73
 19


 Total 
 1,355
 1,060



  Note: An initial assessment on the application is made, normally by telephone, and those applications are recorded for a home survey visit. The information collected during the initial assessment is then confirmed during the survey stage in the applicant’s home.

Central Heating Programme

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications to its central heating programme have been refused since 1 August 2007, broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) reason for refusal.

Stewart Maxwell: Information is not held by local authority area but by main postcode. The information, provided by the managing agent, on the number of applications to the central heating programme that were not taken forward to the home survey stage, between 1 August 2007 and 30 June 2008 is shown in the following table:

  

 
 Main Postcode


 Reason for Refusal
 AB
 DD
 DG
 EH
 FK
 G
 HS
 IV
 KA


 Have a Working System (Pre and Post 22 May 2008)
 279
 184
 134
 478
 261
 939
 13
 107
 371


 Less Than One Year in Property (Pre and Post 22 May 2008)
 13
 12
 9
 15
 9
 47
 2
 8
 19


 Other (Pre and Post 22 May 2008)
 10
 10
 8
 18
 9
 52
 0
 6
 14


Partial or Inefficient System – on GEPC* or over 80(Post 22 May 2008)
 34
 32
 13
 66
 31
 201
 1
 24
 63


Broken System – Applicant Neither on GEPC* nor over 80(Post 22 May 2008)
 16
 29
 11
 43
 33
 101
 0
 15
 48


 Total
 352
 267
 175
 620
 343
 1340
 16
 160
 515



  

 
 Main Postcode


 Reason for Refusal
 KW
 KY
 ML
 PA
 PH
 TD
 ZE
 Total


 Have a Working System (Pre and Post 22 May 2008)
 30
 259
 300
 266
 77
 46
 5
 3,749


 Less Than One Year in Property (Pre and Post 22 May 2008)
 4
 16
 8
 9
 7
 3
 0
 181


 Other (Pre and Post 22 May 2008)
 1
 8
 11
 9
 3
 1
 1
 161


 Partial or Inefficient System – on GEPC* or over 80 (Post 22 May 2008)
 4
 47
 32
 40
 20
 6
 0
 614


 Broken System – Applicant Neither on GEPC* nor over 80 (Post 22 May 2008)
 2
 24
 39
 21
 12
 4
 0
 398


 Total
 41
 354
 390
 345
 119
 60
 6
 5103



  Notes:

  1. Other category includes those not of eligible age, not interested, do not want upheaval, house subject to demolition, not main property, council tenant, housing association tenant, Intends to leave within a year, has installed system privately, has no tenancy agreement etc.

  2.. GEPC*: guaranteed element of pension credit.

Central Heating Programme

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-13759 by Stewart Maxwell on 2 June 2008, what its reasons were for not consulting charitable or voluntary sector bodies prior to its decision to extend the contract for providing its central heating programme in October 2007.

Stewart Maxwell: As the extension to the central heating contract was intended to continue delivery of the existing programme without any service change, we did not consider it necessary to consult with stakeholder organisations. However, we are consulting a number of charitable and voluntary sector bodies through the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum on the long term future of the programme.

Central Heating Programme

Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S3W-13167 and S3W-11423 by Stewart Maxwell and S3W-14431 by Bruce Crawford on 30 May, 24 April and 14 July 2008 respectively, using the commonly understood definition of "total" as outlined in S3W-14431, whether it is satisfied that the 14,377 central heating installations in 2007-08 is a record total, in light of the information provided in S3W-13167 that there were 16,788 in 2003-04, 15,742 in 2004-05, 16,002 in 2005-06 and 14,394 in 2006-07.

Stewart Maxwell: Yes, I am satisfied that the 14,377 central heating systems installed through the Central Heating Programme in the private sector during 2007-08 is a record total.

Cycling

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which organisations or projects have received funding for the promotion of cycling in each year since 1999, broken down by organisation or project.

Stewart Stevenson: Since 1999, the following organisations have received funding for cycling projects:

  

 Organisation
 1999-2000 
(£ million)
 2000-01
(£ million)
 2001-02
(£ million)
 2002-03
(£ million)
 2003-04
(£ million)
 2004-05
(£ million)
 2005-06 
(£ million)
 2006-07
(£ million)
 2007-08
(£ million)


 Local Authorities 
 3.0
 5.2
 3.0
 4.6
 8.0
 8.2
 8.650
 8.870
 9.090


 Local Authorities (STCs)
 
 
 
 
 0.750
 1.0
 1.0
 1.025
 1.050


 Sustrans
 
 
 
 1.4
 3.0
 3.0
 3.650
 7.829
 8.525


 Cycling Scotland
 
 
 
 
 0.250
 0.300
 0.350
 1.550
 0.962


 The Bike Station
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 0.025



  It is estimated that on average around 20% of the Cycling, Walking and Safer Streets grant paid to local authorities is allocated to cycling projects.

  The School Travel Coordinator grant is used to fund posts within local authorities to encourage active travel to school, including the promotion of cycling. From 2008-09 this grant will be rolled up into the local authority block grant as stated in the concordat agreement with COSLA.

Health

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that health visitors are a vital part of the primary care team.

Shona Robison: I consider the skills health visitors contribute to be an important part of meeting the needs of patients. I also know, from recent correspondence from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in relation to their review of health visiting services, that they also see health visitors as a core and integral part of the primary health care team.

  The aim of the Board’s review was to make the best use of health visitor skills, continuing to provide universal services, but with a stronger focus on the most vulnerable families.

Health

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde concerning its recent review of health visiting services.

Shona Robison: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have advised the Scottish Governemnt of the outcomes of its review of health visiting service which was conducted as part of its wider policy of integrating services for children and young people in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area.

  NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde acknowledge and accept that some of the key messages that set out the context for the review and the drivers for change may not have been set out clearly enough to facilitate wider discussion and enable understanding and ownership of any changes.

  I have sought assurances from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde about the importance of working in partnership with the local medical council and local GPs. I satisfied that the local groups established to take forward the health visitor review have been charged with ensuring that proposals for change take account of the concerns of local GPs and are reflective of extensive engagement with wider primary care team members. I am advised that this level of engagement will continue over the summer.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths occurred as a result of Clostridium difficile in the last year, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) month.

Nicola Sturgeon: The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) collects information on the number of deaths that have occurred as a result of Clostridium difficile by NHS board on an annual basis. The information for 2007 has not yet been made available.

  Information by NHS board for the period 2000-2006 is presented in the following table;

  

 
 Year


 NHS Board of Residence
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005
 2006


 Scotland
 38
 57
 70
 73
 98
 102
 164


 Ayrshire and Arran
 2
 7
 9
 5
 12
 3
 5


 Borders
 2
 -
 1
 2
 -
 -
 3


 Dumfries and Galloway
 -
 5
 1
 2
 2
 8
 6


 Fife
 1
 4
 3
 4
 14
 13
 11


 Forth Valley
 6
 2
 3
 1
 4
 8
 8


 Grampian
 2
 1
 3
 6
 7
 6
 9


 Greater Glasgow and Clyde
 9
 15
 21
 18
 26
 22
 41


 Highland
 -
 1
 1
 2
 1
 -
 4


 Lanarkshire
 10
 4
 9
 7
 6
 13
 24


 Lothian
 6
 11
 13
 20
 22
 22
 40


 Orkney
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Shetland
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Tayside
 -
 7
 6
 6
 4
 7
 13


 Western Isles
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -



  Source: GROS.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths have occurred as a result of clostridium difficile in NHS Ayrshire and Arran in the last year, broken down by hospital.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Ayrshire and Arran have advised that during the period April 2007 to March 2008 there were 14 deaths in NHS Ayrshire and Arran where Clostridium difficile was recorded as a primary cause of death. This is broken down by hospital in the following table:

  

 Hospital
 Year (2007)


 Ayr Hospital
 4


 Ayrshire Central Hospital
 2


 Biggart Hospital
 -


 Crosshouse Hospital
 8


 Kirklandside Hospital
 -


 Total 
 14



  Source: NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Lifelong Learning

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to encourage workers across all sectors of the economy to continuously upgrade their skills.

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government outlines its plans to encourage workers across all sectors to continuously upgrade their skills in Skills for Scotland – a Lifelong Skills Strategy .

  In the strategy we recognise that an important factor in employee learning is the commitment of employers to training and learning. To this end we are working with the sector skills councils who, through their four primary objectives highlighted in the strategy, we believe are well placed to encourage employers to continue to invest in training and learning and to raise demand for this from their workers.

  Alongside increasing the demand for training and learning we believe that the way jobs are designed has a direct impact on how the skills gained by workers can be deployed in the workplace. The Scottish Government are investigating how skills are currently being utilised in the workplace and if there is a potential role for government in improving this utilisation to enable workers to have an immediate positive impact to their workplace after a period of training or learning.

  We believe that it is important to recognise the valuable contribution that the Scottish credit and qualifications framework can make to encourage workers to continuously upgrade their skills. Many workers receive informal "on the job" training and by recognising this learning we hope to promote the learning experience. Evidence has shown us that trade unions help to engage workers and raise their aspirations in the workplace, which is why the Scottish Government provides funds to support Scottish union learning.

NHS Hospitals

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12022 by Nicola Sturgeon on 24 April 2008, when it will respond to the reports on hospital car parking provided by NHS boards by 30 June 2008.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS board reports on their car parking schemes have been received and are currently being considered. A full policy statement will be made shortly together with proposals for updating the existing guidance.

NHS Staff

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many disciplinary actions were undertaken in each NHS board in respect of the misuse of information and data security in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Nicola Sturgeon: Numbers of discipline cases are required as part of the mandatory statistics for the workforce reports from NHS boards. The Scottish Government does not collect statistics centrally outlining why the discipline process was invoked. NHS boards would have to be contacted individually to seek information on whether there were any discipline cases in respect of misuse of information and data security.

Parliamentary Questions

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-14465 by Stewart Stevenson on 7 July 2008, whether this answer indicates that it is its practice when answering parliamentary questions to leave the task of defining the words used by ministers to other organisations.

Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W 14046 on 19 June 2008, that clarified with the recent opening of the retail market, issues associated with the billing of non-household customers are now entirely matters for retail service providers, in this case Scottish Water’s retail subsidiary Business Stream.

  Beyond this, it is usual for ministers to refer in general terms to the operational activities of bodies for which they are responsible in an effort to be as helpful as possible. Questions about the detail of these activities however, particularly while Business Stream is operating as a commercial retailer in a competitive market, remain entirely matters for it.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Respite Care

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what commitment has been given by each local authority to increase the provision of respite weeks to carers in their area in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11.

Shona Robison: We have now agreed with COSLA that local authorities will provide an additional 2,000 respite weeks over 2007-08 levels this year, 6,000 extra weeks in 2009-10 and 10,000 extra weeks in 2010-11.

  COSLA will monitor progress twice a year and will ensure delivery of the total Scotland-wide figures.

Respite Care

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the overall cost of 10,000 weeks of respite care would be, based on an average weekly rate for respite care.

Shona Robison: The cost of residential short breaks depends on the needs of the person requiring care, the type of provision and the locality. The respite task group estimated average costs of £629 per week in 2006-07, although the group noted the uncertainty in this estimate due to a lack of evidence. Uprating that figure for inflation to 2008-09, using GDP deflator figures of 3.25% for 2007-08 and 3.00% for 2008-09, gives an estimated cost of £6.7 million for 10,000 weeks of short breaks in residential settings.

  The respite task group estimated average costs of £12 per hour in 2006-07 for short breaks at home. The weekly cost varies widely depending on the level of need and therefore the number of hours provided.

Road Safety

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it (a) has taken and (b) intends to take to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities on Scotland’s roads, with particular reference to the A8, M8, A77 and A82.

Stewart Stevenson: Transport Scotland’s strategic road safety plan sets out an action plan of the agencies targeted objectives for the trunk road network. It highlights the need to remove risk and prioritise initiatives aimed at preventing accidents and mitigating the effects when accidents do occur. Transport Scotland reviews the accident records of the A8, M8, A77 and A82 annually as part of the screening process for the entire trunk road network. Locations identified as having accident clusters or higher than average accidents rates are studied further and where required detailed accident investigation and prevention initiatives are implemented. These can include such things as improvements to signing and lining regimes, provision of high friction anti-skid surfaces, passively safe signposts and barrier terminals, and vehicle activated signs.The current programme of investment in the trunk road network, which includes the A8, M8, A77 and A82 is available on the Transport Scotland website at:

  http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/files/documents/roads/Motorways-Trunk-Road-Programme-June2007-final.pdf.

  The strategic transport projects review is examining the longer term needs of Scotland’s nationally strategic transport network and will deliver its findings to Scottish ministers later this summer.

  Through the road safety expert group, other contributors to road accidents are also being studied.

Scottish Government Staff

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its staff were paid a bonus in the last year and what the total amount paid was.

John Swinney: All bonuses paid to staff in the Scottish Government are related to performance.

  Information about bonuses relating to the most recent performance appraisal year ended 31 March 2008 is not yet available. 833 civil servants in the core Scottish Government received bonuses for their performance during the appraisal year ended 31 March 2007. The total cost of these bonuses was £1.814 million.

  Special bonuses are also paid to staff who have made noteworthy contributions to the work of the Scottish Government. During the year ended 31 March 2008, 324 staff in the core Scottish Government received special bonuses totalling £0.124 million.

Sectarianism

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the view, expressed in a recent British Academy-funded study by academics from the universities of Strathclyde and West of Scotland, that anti-sectarian policies and initiatives need to be put back on the political agenda in Scotland.

Stewart Maxwell: We welcome this research report, which is a very useful small scale study providing information about young people’s experiences of sectarianism in areas of Glasgow and adds to our body of knowledge on sectarianism. The Scottish Government fully recognises the importance of tackling all forms of religious intolerance, including sectarianism, and is committed to eradicating sectarianism from Scottish society.

Transport

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage car sharing (a) throughout Scotland and (b) in Dumfries and Galloway.

Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government, on 25 June 2008, re-launched www.chooseanotherway.com . This site aims to provide organisations with tools and resources to promote more sustainable travel practices, including responsible car use. The responsible car use section of the website highlights the car sharing schemes funded by the Scottish Government and developed and delivered by the regional transport partnerships.

  On national liftshare day, 9 June 2008, South West of Scotland Transport Partnership, in partnership with NHS Dumfries and Galloway, Dumfries and Galloway Council and Dumfries and Galloway College, officially launched www.dgtripshare.com. Promotion of the site has included poster campaigns, radio slots, press releases as well as competitions. This activity has resulted in over 260 people registering their willingness to car share.